If only all concert films could be as good as this.
Released this past weekend to coincide with National Record Store Day, it's clear from the get-go that Wilco's Ashes Of American Flags is much more than your run of the mill, live concert DVD.
More than that, it's a documentary film that gives the viewer an up-close, road-mapped view of Wilco on the road, in addition to all the great performances (although rest assured, there are plenty of those here too). Here we see Wilco on the tour bus, at the soundchecks (performing a beautiful "Wishful Thinking"), eating at the roadside dives, and checking out landmarks along the way like Ernest Tubb's Record Shop.
You hear Nels Cline and Jeff Tweedy talking about the physical demands of life on the road, but never in a way that suggests they'd have it any other way. This is a film that makes it abundantly clear this is a band that loves what they do. In another sequence, the band members lament the "Walmart-ization" of rural America as the tour bus rolls through small communities that have become more like ghost towns along the highway.
But if these scenes of Wilco on the road provide an intimate snapshot of the band, the concert scenes are still the main event here. Recorded at venues ranging from New Orleans' Tipitanas to Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium, it also becomes clear in interviews that each of these places hold special value to the band members.
At the two aforementioned venues, Wilco is also joined by a three-piece horn section called The Total Pros. In New Orleans, they play from an upper balcony as Tweedy introduces them as "the contest winners who were the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth callers."
Ashes Of American Flags is also beautifully shot, making you yearn to see it on a big screen. The HD quality gives you more than just a front row seat during the concert sequences. You literally get a view here from Jeff Tweedy's microphone — and most impressively from guitarist extraordinaire Nels Cline's fingertips on the fretboard.
Article comments
1 - Tom Johnson
I agree, Glen. This is a fantastic DVD - I won't belittle it by calling it simply a "live concert" because it really is so much better than that. I can really see why Jeff scuttled plans for the Kicking Television DVD that was to be a straight-concert video now - he wanted something more artful, and he got it here.
My one complaint is actually about the sound: the concert footage sounds great, but the interview segments are WAY too quiet. Hard to hear the thoughtful comments from these guys at times, at least on a regular TV and no particular sound system . . .
Also one note: the Washington DC show is only available through April 27, meant only for purchasers through the Wilco site and at indie record stores. So if you have it, don't hesitate, though the process is convoluted and annoying for people who already had a Wilcoworld membership (I now have two.)
2 - Glen Boyd
The interview stuff sounded fine on my end tom, and the concert sound was phenomenal (I still can't get over that bright sounding chime on "Ashes Of American Flags"). I agree with you that the whole download thing was a bit confusing, but I did get the DC show (as well as the other cool stuff).
-Glen